Particle Grid Architecture & Positioning

[superliminal]

Hi all,

I am trying to find good techniques or scripts to control the positioning of a particle grid for a sculptural project. I'd like to do 2 things:

-Change positioning of particle grid to create moving forms (ie. waves, geometric shapes, parabolas, etc.). But I'd like to keep a more or less definable form to the overall particle grid.
-Randomly reposition the placement of particles within a grid, but to make sure the square grid shape isn't lost after reposition.

Does anyone know of any scripts, expressions or techniques where this could be achievable? I use maya regularly and have found that most particle manipulations aren't made for creating architectural forms.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!